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The Detroit Lions have made it clear that LaAdrian Waddle will be their starting right tackle when he's ready to return from reconstructive knee surgery.

So why was Waddle active for Sunday's game but stuck on the sidelines while the Minnesota Vikings ran roughshod over his replacement?

Lions coach Jim Caldwell termed the decision to keep Waddle on the bench Sunday a "coaches decision," and he declined to say whether Waddle or Cornelius Lucas will start in this weekend's game against the Denver Broncos (8:30 p.m. Sunday, NBC).

Lucas, who played through an ankle injury he suffered on Sunday's opening series and earned the team's lowest offensive grade against the Vikings from Pro Football Focus (minus-4.7), has replaced Waddle in the starting lineup the last two weeks.

"We'll see," Caldwell said. "I think Luke has progressed and (done a) nice job, a tough guy. And I think, in the long run, it's really going to benefit us. He's gotten a lot of good work."

In the short run, Lucas has struggled with speed rushers off the edge, and his inconsistent play Sunday was one reason quarterback Matthew Stafford took such a pounding from the Vikings.

Waddle, who missed six games with an assortment of injuries last year, has practiced without restrictions most of the last two weeks, but he said last week that the Lions were proceeding carefully with his rehab. He tore his ACL in December.

Caldwell declined to say whether Waddle could have handled a full game's worth of snaps against the Vikings, but indications are that that's what the Lions are waiting on.

"You may have a particular pitch count on a guy," Caldwell said. "He may be able to go, but maybe he hasn't played in awhile and so you have a pitch count. So there's ways in which you plan to get him into that pitch count. So that's where it comes in. But we still, if there was a guy that we felt was any way shape or form in harm's way, he certainly wouldn't end up playing for us. But if he's up, he's capable, but yeah, there could be a possibility he may be limited in terms of pitch count."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.